1. Prologue: The Flame

Screams echoed up from the valley around her. She did nothing to shut them out. Hot tears pricked at her cheeks. She did nothing to stop them.

How could I have started something like this?

It had all been such a good idea at the time. The people were being crushed beneath the rule of the tyrants- the very angels that had been sent to protect them. Humans suffered and died. The angels ruled the world. And so it had been.

How did I come this far?

Sanji shook her head. Taking on the angels should have been suicide. She and all her companions should have been killed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice weak and hollow. "I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me for what I have brought us to."

I never could have known that this would happen.

There was no answer. Just the hot winds, that spread the fires. The smoke rose up around her in vast, choking columns, filling her mouth and nose. It burned at her lungs. She ignored the pain.

How could I have known?

Sanji dropped to her knees, burying her head in her hands, and began to sob.